Lasting Legacies
by elbeeinthewild
Summary: Bull gets a phone call he's been dreading, and it leads to a discussion about legacies and moving on. Written in celebration of International Fanworks Day #IFD2019


AN: Spoilers for, and based on events in the S2 episode, "The Exception to the Rule". It could stand alone I guess, but if you haven't seen or don't remember that episode, this story might not have as much of an impact.

This is a rather poignant and sad "what might've happened later" story and begins two years after events in the episode. Death of minor character. Beta'd.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

~TAC Office~

Marissa passed by Bull's office door and did a double take. She could see him through the glass, hunched over the desk unmoving, head down with his hands covering his face. She felt her heart skip a beat, and concern drove her to enter the office unannounced.

"Bull…are you all right?"

Bull glanced up and she was shocked to see the glimmer of unshed tears in his eyes. His mouth worked for a moment, but then he looked down again and seemed to be pulling in steadying breaths.

Marissa tossed her clipboard onto a nearby chair and stepped quickly around the desk. She stood next to her friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Bull, you're scaring me. What is it?"

He finally looked up and met her worried blue eyes.

"I just got a call from Zack Burnham," he answered in a shaky voice. "Allie was placed in home hospice care yesterday."

Marissa needed no further explanation. They'd all been affected by the heartbreaking story of the woman who was once Bull's high school sweetheart, but ultimately for _them_ it was just a case. After Bull and Zack worked together to get a settlement for Allison and the others made sick by the poisoned water in Danville, everyone's focus had moved on to other cases; other people. But not Bull…_he_ hadn't moved on.

Every few weeks or so, Marissa would quietly arrange a car and driver for him. No one ever questioned Bull taking a long weekend off here and there, and leaving the city for a few days. But the other didn't know he'd been going to Danville to visit Allison, not even Benny. It worried her; the idea that the former lovers might be rekindling a romance, knowing it had no future. But Bull always chose his own path, even when it wasn't necessarily the easiest one. She could just be there for him when things came crashing down. And by his reaction, it seemed they were about to.

"Oh Bull…I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"Zack asked me to come…" Bull paused when his voice cracked a little. "Can you rearrange my schedule?"

"Of course," Marissa nodded. "I'll arrange for a car too. You're leaving tonight?"

Bull nodded without speaking. His throat was tight and he still felt numb from the news.

Marissa's heart went out to the shaken man who was more than a boss, he was one of her closest friends. She gave in to the compulsion to do something to ease his pain. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around Bull in a hug. She rested her head against his; smiling when he reached up and clasped the slender arm over his chest, giving it a small squeeze.

"Call me if you need anything. Anything at all," she whispered.

Bull squeezed her arm once more. "I will. Thanks for everything, Marissa," he said, grateful for her unfailing support.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

~Danville~

Bull was filled with trepidation as the car pulled away. He stood there, bag in hand, outside the Burnham house in Danville, not sure what to expect. He'd subconsciously known this moment was coming; it was inevitable. But as Allie's twelve to sixteen-month window had passed the twenty-four-month mark, he'd allowed hope to bud. He'd compartmentalized the reality of the situation, shoving it to the back of his mind and stubbornly avoided coming to terms with it. Now it was no longer something he could deflect away.

He climbed the steps and just as he was about to knock, the door opened, revealing a red-eyed, drawn looking Zack.

"Hi Dr. Bull," he greeted quietly, pulling the door open wider so Bull could step inside. "Thanks for coming."

"Hi Zack. It's Jason, remember?" he reminded gently.

Zack nodded with a wan smile. "I'll take your bag upstairs," he said, reaching out a hand for the bag. "There's fresh coffee in the kitchen; help yourself. I think you remember where everything is."

Bull handed the young man his bag and watched as he made his way up the stairs, taking care to keep his tread soft, presumably to avoid disturbing his mother's rest.

A few minutes later, he heard a chair scrape along the floor behind him while he was rummaging in the fridge for some milk. He sloshed a small amount into his cup and then joined Zack at the table.

"How long," Jason ventured, stirring his coffee absently.

"A few days at most now," Zack answered, sighing heavily. "She decided to stop all treatment and come home, only agreeing to pain management, and grudgingly at that. She's very determined to do this _her_ way," he snorted, fondly exasperated at his mother's stubbornness. "She doesn't know I called you."

"I'm glad you did," Jason replied.

Zack nodded. "The only times in this last year that I've seen her almost unburdened by the cancer, animated and like her old self, were the times when you've visited. I know this can't be easy for you, but selfishly, I wanted to give her that one more time."

"Not selfish at all. Spending time with your mom has come to mean a lot to me too," Jason said simply. That was an epic understatement of how he truly felt about Allie. He just wasn't sure if Zack would welcome the sentiment.

"She loves you a lot, you know?" Zack disclosed with a small smile.

Well, that answered _that_ question_. _His thoughts turned briefly to the differences between Diana and Allie. He was very fond of Diana and spending time with her was always enjoyable. But every time he'd visited Allie, it was like _coming home_. Even after all this time, Diana was more a dalliance than a commitment, neither of them really motivated to take that next step; to leave behind their homes and careers for the other. There really was no future in it as things stood. He and Allie had no future either, and it was _that_ difference that had his heart raging all over again, at the injustice of what was happening to her.

"The feeling is most definitely mutual."

Zack's smile broadened at that, and he knew it was the right thing to say.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Zack lead the way upstairs to Allie's room, and he hovered uncertainly in the doorway, watching while Zack checked and adjusted the IV delivering her pain medication. He sees an unexpected competence and ease to Zack's motions. It spoke of repetition and sad familiarity. He'd been helping with Allie's care, for quite some time.

"She's due for more in a little while, but I'll give you some time alone first," Zack said in a low voice. It was almost a whisper, but the sleeping woman stirred at hearing it.

"Hey baby," Allie greeted her son. "Time for more of the good stuff?"

"Very funny, Mom," he answered. "Not just yet. You have a visitor. I thought you'd like to chat first," Zack said, tilting his head toward the door.

Allie's dark eyes were sunken and shadowed by illness, but still had that spark of life so uniquely _her_.

"Jason! Is that really you?" she squinted in the dim light and tried to sit up.

"The one and only," Jason grinned, as Zack propped some pillows behind her back and helped her get comfortable again. He walked to the side of the bed opposite Zack, trying not to notice how much weight she's lost since he saw her last month.

"It's good to see you," he greeted.

"_Ha_!" Allie snorted. "I look like crap. Even so, it's good to be seen. Now get down here and hug me, you big lug."

He barely noticed Zack leaving the room as he moves to sit carefully on the edge of the bed. He wraps his arms around her thin frame, and pulls her gently to him.

Allie rested her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and breathing in his clean, masculine scent. "I've missed you," she said affectionately, returning his hug as best as she could.

Jason closed his eyes against the prickle of tears trying to form; glad she couldn't see his face just now. "You know, I kept hoping for a miracle," he said softly. "That something; _anything_ would happen to turn this around for you. To give you a second chance."

Allie pulled away to look up at him. "You've got a closet eternal optimist hiding in there!" she smirked and poked his chest, trying to lighten the moment.

"No, not really," he sighed resignedly. "I just wanted that for you so much."

Allie shook her head. "Not in the cards," she said frankly. "I'm not bitter. That's no less true now than when I said it in that courtroom. In fact, I have a lot to be grateful for."

Jason made a choked noise that sounded like a cross between a laugh and a sob.

"Grateful? You're _dying_, Allie."

"So are we all; just some sooner than others," Allie said sagely. "But that doesn't mean I don't have things to be grateful for. There's the two years I wouldn't have gotten without the medical care that came out of the settlement. A settlement we won because of _you_."

"Your son was a big part of that, you know."

"But you and I both know he didn't stand a chance of winning alone. If your company hadn't helped us, we'd have gotten nothing."

"We made a good team," Jason agreed.

"Thanks to _you_," Allie went on, "I got two more years with Zack. Years where we didn't have to worry about money or losing the house on top of everything else. You got Warwick to pay off this house. Do you even realize what a _gift_ that is? Zack will be able to keep the house he grew up in. Maybe even raise a family of his own here."

Allie leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially. "He's engaged now, to a lovely girl named Emily." She reclined again and sighed in satisfaction.

"That's…wonderful." Jason said in surprise, but sad that neither of Zack's parents would see that wedding.

Allie caught the hesitation and read him like a book. "I may not be around for the wedding or the grandkids, but I got to see my only child find a love of his own, and I met the girl he wants to spend the rest of his life with."

"Zack's a great kid," he said a bit wistfully.

"He likes you too," Allie said. "And yes, he's great. I couldn't ask for a better son. That boyish face fools people. He's stronger than most people give him credit for. He's been my rock. So have you. Becoming bitter would have soured the time I had with him, and you."

"You really are amazing," Jason told her, full of wonder at her courage and grace in the twilight of her life. "A part of me will always regret not running away with you."

"And I already told you I forgive you _for that. _But I do have a bone to pick with you, mister," she said crossly. "I was going to let it go, but I don't think I will now."

Jason sucked in a breath. "What?" from the glare on Allie's pinched and pale face, she seemed truly angry with him. "What did I do?"

"It's what you _didn't_ do; like explain why you dropped off the face of the earth for four months a couple summers ago," she accused. "It felt like you went away and left me all over again."

"Ah…"

"Don't bother trying to spin some story to _spare_ me," she scolded. "Even in New York City, when a guy has a heart attack on the steps of the county courthouse, there just might be a sound byte in the news about it."

"I'm so sorry, Allie. I _never_ meant to do that to you," he apologized sincerely, taking her frail hand and holding it in his. She'd known all along; and it just made him feel more like a jerk for not telling her why he'd been out of touch.

"I was a rock-bottom mess when I woke up in the hospital. It finally hit how out of control I'd gotten," he admitted. "I barely knew how I was going to get myself back on track and the control freak in my head was telling me I did it to myself, so I had to fix it myself. I'm not exactly wired to lean on other people, much less someone far sicker than I was."

"Apology accepted. _Again_," Allie emphasized. "Listen to me, Jason. You were given something I will never have; a second chance. Don't waste it. I'll consider it a personal favor." She tugged his hand as she spoke, pulling it to her lips and dropping a kiss on it, before moving it to her cheek and holding it there.

"Flirt," Jason accused with a watery grin. He caressed her cheek gently before withdrawing his hand.

"Always," she quipped. Serious again, Allie continued. "I'll live on in a different way. Maybe not the way I'd hoped for before my diagnosis, but one meaningful nonetheless. I have a legacy in Zack, and one I'm damn proud of."

"For good reason," he agreed.

"You've got a legacy too. All the people you've helped."

"That's business," Jason disputed.

"Don't even try that with me," Allie scoffed. "Maybe it's a challenge or a control thing, that part of you that needs to be the smartest guy in the room. But I've seen firsthand that it's about _far_ more than that."

Jason raised a skeptical eyebrow, not sure if he was being complimented or insulted.

"Don't be dense," Allie rolled her eyes at him. "You don't take just _any_ case. It's important for you to be on the _right_ side of a case," she pointed out. "Your confidence, and even arrogance at times; it hides a passion to help people. You follow your heart even if you don't realize that's what you're doing. Part of your legacy will be right alongside mine here in Danville. No one else in this town will get sick from poisoned water _ever_ again, and the people who did will be well-cared for."

"You're very perceptive for a dying woman," Jason said haltingly, disconcerted in the face of her accurate assessment of his character and motivations.

"Damn straight. I have a legacy in both of you, and I don't want it to include sorrow and regret. I don't want either of you to live in the past. Grieve but don't go back; don't let my son go back either. Do the things that move you. Love and be loved. _Go on_."

Jason swallowed heavily, speechless with admiration at the quiet strength and compassion of this woman in her last days. Perhaps even her last hours. He hurt inside; for himself, for Allie and for Zack, and he didn't figure that would be changing any time soon. Years would pass and he could imagine the pain he felt in this moment would still be there.

Dwelling on it wasn't she wanted, and he could refuse her nothing in this moment. "I will," he promised. "Life goes on. It's not going to be the same, but maybe it's not supposed to be."

Allie nodded, satisfied. "Would you do something else for me?" she asked.

"Not sure I'm up for a rap contest," he joked.

She giggled like a young girl and it tore at his heart.

"That's not quite what I had in mind. Besides, you look way too tired to be much of a challenge for me," she said with a wink.

Irrepressible. That's what she was.

"I'm so tired now. I'd like you to lay here and just hold me for a while."

Her admission of sudden fatigue brought reality crashing in again. He managed to keep the tremor out of his voice as he toed off his shoes and answered. "There's nothing else I'd rather be doing right now."

He crawled under the covers and Allie nestled into his side, resting her head on his chest. He closed his arms around her frail form again and she sighed happily. They lay together quietly for a while, no words necessary as comfort was given and received.

He was just starting to slide into sleep when she spoke.

"Jason," came a weak voice. "I want you to go home tomorrow."

"What? Why?" he asked, tightening his arms around her in protest. He didn't want to leave her side.

"Don't misunderstand; I'm glad you're here now, but I don't want you to stay until the end. I don't want you to remember me that way. It's bad enough you see me the way I am now."

"What about Zack?"

"Come back _after_," came the whisper soft reply. "I think the company will be good for him then…" Her voice trailed off as Allie started to fall asleep.

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Okay, Allie," he agreed, and let himself drift.

Zack smiled fondly when found them like that a short time later; asleep in each other's arms.

~Danville, eighteen months later~

Jason stood together with Zack and his wife Emily in the center of a small, picturesque park in the Danville town center. They shared pleased smiles as the ceremony re-dedicating the town park came to a conclusion. Part of their grieving process had been to become a thorn in the side of Warwick Furniture Manufacturing one more time.

The park once bore the name of the company that put the town on the map, and drove a large part of its local economy, but no longer. They'd negotiated an agreement with Warwick to drop their name from the park. It was now the Allison Burnham Memorial Park, rededicated in her honor, in recognition for her contribution to the health and safety of the community.

As the crowd melted away, they stepped closer to the fountain where a memorial plaque bearing Allie's name had been installed. Jason ran his fingers reverently over the raised letters inscribed in the bronze plaque. Zack's hand reached out and joined his, touching his mother's name.

Warwick's role in what happened here shouldn't be forgotten, and Allie deserved to be remembered too, for her role in making it right. Now her memory would carry on not just in her son, but in another tangible and permanent way.

Jason stepped aside as Emily moved closer to her husband at the fountain's edge. She linked arms with Zack, while her free arm crossed protectively over a heavily pregnant belly.

Jason smiled at the thought of Zack and Emily welcoming their first child soon.

Lasting legacies, indeed.

~The End~

AN: If you would like to leave comment, I'd love to hear what you thought of my first story outside the NCIS fandom. :)


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